By Prossy Nandudu
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is to work with the Dairy Development Authority (DDA) to boost exports of Ugandan milk and other dairy products.
Through the partnership, the two parties are expected to assess new markets, as part of the country’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the dairy sector.
The partnership that will be informed by the export competitiveness study was announced on Thursday, which was also World Milk Day.
The study will analyse trade flows in the dairy sector over recent years, identify dairy products and dairy by-products with export potential and assess Uganda’s comparative advantage relative to its competitors.
Led by FAO Monitoring and Analyzing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme, FAO AgrInvest and the International Growth Centre (IGC) in Uganda and in collaboration with DDA, they will also identify the most dynamic export markets and recommend policy interventions to position Uganda as a competitive milk and dairy supplier.
“Knowing how competitive Ugandan milk is for international markets is the first step to boosting dairy exports, which is needed more so than ever. With that and the measures and investments in the Dairy Policy Action Plan, the dairy sector is set up for transformation for better production and better nutrition,” Marco V. Sánchez, the deputy director of Agrifood Economics at FAO, said.
Commenting on the partnership, Dairy Development Authority executive director Samson Mpiira Akankiza said milk plays an important role in Uganda, not just economically for the millions of households, but also provides a core foundation for proper childhood growth and health.
“As DDA, we are putting a major emphasis on increasing milk consumption domestically through the School Milk Programme, and expanding our export market portfolio for increased foreign exchange that translates to more earnings for our farmers,” Akankiza said, adding that the dairy export competitiveness study is timely and will re-enforce DDA’s quest for additional export markets for milk.
The development comes at a time when raw milk production has surged from 1.9 billion litres in 2014 to 3.2 billion litres in 2022. Whereas exports, although on the increase in recent years, remain dependent on demand from the key East African export market of Kenya.
Moreover, the DDA estimates that domestic household consumption of milk stands at just over a half litre (550 millilitres) a day. This is 68% less than the dietary intake recommended by FAO and WHO, meaning Ugandans consume their recommended milk intake for about two out of the seven days in a week.
FAO representative in Uganda Antonio Querido said: “We are proud to announce our collaboration with DDA to boost exports of Ugandan milk and dairy products, which will contribute to the ongoing efforts to strengthen Uganda’s dairy sector.”
“As we celebrate World Milk Day, FAO is committed to supporting Uganda in its efforts to improve the livelihoods of dairy farmers and traders and boost exports of high-quality Ugandan milk and dairy products”, Querido added.
To help achieve this target and transformation, Querido pledged FAO’s continued support to the DDA, to build on the successes of previous efforts while at the same time contributing to the development of the country’s dairy sector.
